TEACHER ACCUSED OF COMMITTING SEX ACTS ON CHILD

A first-year Chula Vista special-education teacher has been charged with committing sex acts on a child who was not a student, authorities said Thursday.

San Diego police arrested Loren McDonald, 37, of San Diego, at Olympian High School on Magdelena Avenue in Chula Vista on Monday.

McDonald remained in jail Thursday with bail set at $2 million. He has been placed on paid leave from his job, a school district spokesman said.

He was arraigned in San Diego Superior Court on Wednesday and charged with eight felonies, including two counts of oral copulation on a child under age 10 and five counts of lewd acts on a child. He faces an additional charge of trying to dissuade a witness from reporting a crime, a District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman said.

The alleged victim in the case was not a current or former student, police sex crimes Lt. Chuck Kaye said. He declined to elaborate about the nature of the case.

Pauline Repard • U-T

Suspects sought in separate robberies at gunpoint at ATMs

La Mesa

Police are investigating after two people were robbed at gunpoint in La Mesa Wednesday night.

The first incident was reported at 10:50 p.m. at a Wells Fargo ATM on Lake Murray Boulevard near Baltimore Drive, La Mesa police said.

The victim told officers a man asked him for change. When the man replied that he had none, the robber took out a handgun and demanded the victim’s wallet.

The second robbery was reported about 70 minutes later at a Bank of America ATM at Grossmont Center mall. A woman had just made a deposit when she was approached by a man who pointed a handgun at her and demanded cash, police said.

The gunman in the first robbery was described as white or a light-skinned Latino. The other robber was described as Asian.

Debbi Baker • U-T

Body of missing surfer found by person walking on beach

Pacific Beach

Lifeguards said the body of a 42-year-old local surfer whose disappearance Wednesday night prompted a massive search by lifeguards, the Coast Guard and police officers, was discovered in the ocean off Pacific Beach early Thursday.

The body was found in kelp at Tourmaline Surf Park Beach about 3:30 a.m. by a person walking on the beach, San Diego lifeguard Lt. John Everhart.

The body, which was unclothed, had significant trauma that appeared to be shark bites, which are believed to have occurred after the man presumably drowned, Everhart said. His surfboard was found about 8 p.m. Wednesday with his wet suit tied around it.

The surfer’s fiancée reported him missing to San Diego police about 10 p.m.

Everhart said it’s not clear whether the man died accidentally or by suicide. An autopsy is scheduled today.

His name was not yet released.

Debbi Baker & Susan Shroder • U-T

Toddler in critical condition after falling into hot tub

el cajon

A toddler who apparently fell into an in-ground hot tub in the back yard of an El Cajon house on Thursday was transported to a hospital in critical condition, authorities said.

Firefighters and paramedics responded about 12:30 p.m. to the residence on Nila Lane, near Avenida Abajo, said Monica Zech, spokeswoman for Heartland Fire & Rescue.

They immediately started CPR on the toddler, and the boy regained a pulse, a fire official said.

A grandmother had been taking care of the 18-month-old boy at the time, Zech said.

He was taken to Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa and then transferred to Rady Children’s’ Hospital in San Diego, Zech said.

There was no security fencing around the pool area, a fire official said.